Friend John and I fancied a game set in the 1967 Six Day War using my modified version of Charlie Don’t Surf…but I didn’t have a scenario prepared or much time to write one…so I used ChatGPT to see what it could come up with.
After a bit of too-ing and fro-ing - especially on the orders of battle as if there’s one thing ChatGPT is bad at it is correctly detailing unit compositions and, in particular, armaments (either because the information isn’t easily handy for it or becasue it reads too much rubbish put up there on the ‘Net by wargamers!) - ChatGPT and I cobbled together the following scenario:
Breakthrough at Khan Yunis Crossroads
This scenario recreates the bitter, chaotic opening engagement on the morning of June 5, 1967. The Israeli 7th Armored Brigade, spearheading the assault into the Sinai, had to punch directly through the 20th (Palestinian) Division defending the Khan Yunis crossroads. Because the Israelis expected little resistance, they advanced in a rapid road column, only to run into a dense, deadly web of anti-tank nests, minefields, and entrenched infantry.
Scenario Map
The Axis of Advance: A single paved main road runs horizontally from East to West across the center of the board.
The Crossroads: A secondary, unpaved road intersects the main road in the western half of the board. This intersection is the primary objective.
The Chokepoints: The north side of the main road features deep sand dunes (Difficult Terrain for vehicles) and long, linear Cactus Hedges (block line of sight, provide soft cover to infantry).
The Built-Up Area: The southwestern quadrant features a cluster of mud-brick buildings and urban structures representing the outskirts of Khan Yunis. They count as heavy cover and block vehicle movement.
Defensive Works: The Egyptian player may place two concrete bunkers/pillboxes near the crossroads, along with a hidden 6-inch wide minefield blocking one flank of the road.
Scenario Rules
Caught in Column (The Surprise Factor): To simulate the historical surprise, the IDF player cannot choose their deployment formation. They must enter Turn 1 in a single-file line along the main road. On Turn 1, the Egyptian player gets a +1 modifier to hit any Israeli vehicle that has not yet moved off the road axis.
Sniper and RPG Alley: The urban buildings and cactus hedges are perfect for close-quarters ambushes. Any PLA infantry stand attacking an Israeli vehicle from a Cactus Hedge or Building within 6 inches rolls with an extra anti-tank penetration die, simulating side/rear armor hits in the chaotic crossfire.
Dust and Fog of War: The dry Gaza terrain kicked up massive clouds of dust during movement. Any vehicle that moves at maximum speed (over 11”) creates a localized dust cloud behind it. This blocks line of sight for any units firing through that cloud on the following turn.
Victory Conditions
The game lasts for 14 appearances of the Commercial Break card.
Israeli Decisive Victory: The IDF clears all Egyptian/PLA forces within 12 inches of the crossroads and exits at least 2 Tanks and 2 Halftracks off the West table edge before the game ends.
Tactical Draw: The IDF controls the crossroads but suffers heavy casualties, failing to exit enough operational units off the West edge. The advance is delayed.
Egyptian Victory: The IDF spearhead is broken. If the Egyptian player destroys more than 50% of the Israeli armor or prevents the IDF from clearing the crossroads by the final turn, the Israeli offensive grindingly halts.
The Israelis: 7th Armoured Brigade Spearhead
The Israeli column enters the table as detailed above, no blinds.
Force Commander
Big Man 5 (Level III) in 1x Centurion Sh'ot (105mm) Command Tank
Vanguard Armour Platoon:
Big Man 4 (Level III)
3x Centurion Sh'ot Tanks
Mechanized Infantry Company
Mechanised Company HQ
Big Man 6 (Level III) in 1x Command Halftrack (M3 with .50 cal)
2x 60mm Mortar Team (3 crew each) in 1x M3 Halftrack
2x FN MAG LMG teams (3 crew each) in 1x M3 Halftrack
Platoons 1-3:
Big Man 1-3 (each Level II) in M3 Command Halftrack
3x Mechanized Infantry Assault Rifle Squads (8 men each) in 3x M3 Halftrack
1 x Mechanised Infantry Weapons Squad in 1x M3 Halftrack with 1x Blindicide AT weapon (2 crew) and 1x 51mm Light Mortar team (2 crew)
Reconnaissance Platoon:
Big Man 7 (Level II)
2x AMX-13 Light Tanks
Cards: Big Man 1-7; Armoured Platoon; Company HQ; Platoons 1-3; Recon Platoon; Armoured Bonus Move; Armoured Bonus Fire; Dynamic Commander; Recon Bonus Move; Rally
The Egyptians: 20th Palestinian Division
The Egyptians start the game under Hidden Blinds anywhere west of the crossroads.
Force Commander
Big Man 1 (Level II)
Defending Infantry Company
Company HQ
Big Man 2 (Level I)
Platoons 1-3:
3x Infantry Assault Rifle Squads (8 men each, each squad has 1x RPG-2 AT weapon)
Bunkers:
Each bunker contains 1x static SG-43 Goryunov Heavy Machine Gun team (5 crew)
Anti-Tank Ambush Platoon
2x SU-100 or T-34/85 Tank Destroyers/Tanks dug-into hull-down positions and firing as anti-tank guns
Cards: Big Man 1-2; Platoons 1-3; HMG Bunkers; HMG Bonus Fire; Anti-Tank 1; Anti-Tank 2; Anti-Tank Bonus Fire; Hesitant Commander; Poor Fire Discipline
Our Game
The game began with the Israeli column entering the table along the main road from the east, headed by the Reconnaissance Platoon. One AMX-13 was knocked out almost immediately by a long-range shot from the Egyptian SU-100, with the other blowing smoke and heading off the road into a position where the Egyptian tanks’ fire was blocked by one of the bunkers.
The Israeli tanks were on next, immediately engaging both the enemy bunkers and tanks, but the Egyptians were very well dug in and the attacks had no effect.
The first Israeli infantry platoon followed, but was almost immediately pinned down by fire from the bunkers as soldiers dismounted from their half-tracks.
Things went a bit static for a second, as the Israelis tried to suppress the Egyptian bunkers and anti-tank vehicles, but to continued no effect.
A second Israeli infantry platoon arrived and dismounted near the cactus hedges along one edge of the table. An Egyptian infantry platoon positioned in nearby rough ground/dunes showed Poor Fire Discipline and opened fire on the Israelis at long range, revealing their positions without causing any casualties.
A lucky shot then took out one of the Egyptian bunkers (a shell from a Centurion straight through the gun slit) and the Israelis, realising that they were running out of Turns, moved rapidly forward.
The Israelis pushed forward hard, carelessly losing the other AMX-13 to a shot from the venerable, dug-in Egyptian T-34/85 (thanks Uncle Joe!) but managing to knock-out the dug-in SU-100 table destroyer through concentrating their fire on it.
More Egyptian infantry opened fire without permission (another Poor Fire Discipline) and now the Israeli’s knew where the enemy was.
Shortly after this point we called the game. we’d both lost track of how many turns had been played, and the Egyptian player was of a mind to retreat what forces he could, sacrificing the T-34/85 to let his infantry get away.
The Israeli player, having identified the Egyptian infantry positions, wanted to call in the airforce to suppress them but, as that wasn’t an options, was minded to finish off the T-34/85 (it wasn’t going to last much longer versus four Centurions), and then fulfil most of his victory conditions by sending two tanks and two half-tracks straight down the road as fast as possible, ignoring the Egyptian foot who were all a bit far away from the road to do much about it.
In the end, we called it a tactical win for the Israelis: they were a bit short on time to do anything much about the Egyptian infantry, but could probably have achieved their victoru conditions had we continued.
Lessons learnt? The Egyptian player would have used his third platoon to properly cover the road (it was wasted where it was), sacrificing men for time and using his RPGs to keep any Israeli half-tracks at bay. The Israeli player on the other hand, would have moved forward much faster: he recognised he’d got a bit stuck in front of the bunkers.
An interesting scenario that we look forward to replaying.